I recently picked up an old Soviet 500mm F8 mirror lens, a 3M-5C-MC. I decided to modify my Photosniper stock (another Soviet era photography kit) to use the new mirror lens and my Sony Nex 5n. The 5N's shutter is pressed with the stock's trigger via a pushrod.




I took this setup out today to do a little wildlife photography. It turned out not to be a good day for photos since we had a low cloud ceiling all day and the dust was blowing with winds in the 10-20 m.p.h. range.

That, combined with the F8 lens made it necessary to use pretty high ISO during shooting (between 2000-3200 ISO).

That would have been fine with my D600, but the Nex 5N isn't near as good at those high ISO settings (although not extremely bad).

With that said, here are a few photos.

I came up on a lone coyote watching over a prairie dog town.




He stalked up to a prairie dog and got him




All that hard work made him sleepy (he didn't eat the prairie dog, probably saving him for later )




Just a view to the west





Here's a pretty good sized mulie. He was pushing around a tumble weed in the high grass




Here's another mulie, quite a bit smaller than the first one




Well, that is it for today. I kind of like the way this mirror lens renders images. They aren't as sharp as my Nikkor 300mm F4, but they have a certain "old" look to the photos that I kind of like. It is definitely a lens you need to use on a bright day because of the F8 set aperture. I'll be bringing it out on the next bright day we have to see how it works at lower ISO's.

[markl62]

great shots. surprised at the compact size for the lens for a 500mm.

[Jacquot]

I really like this set, especially the coyote frames. Who cares about whatever details might or might not be rendered ideally, these really work very well for me. Yes, they have noise and such, and you won't be selling them at a high end gallery, but overall they really work well, and what's in focus is great. Glad to see them! My coyote day was without any camera, and it was up close and personal, too--enough to be a bit disturbing, although I think there's not so much to be afraid of with them coyotes! I do wish I'd had a set up of any kind at all..., and it's great to see yours, it inspires me.

[RoxnDox]

Well, I think they turned out great... Love the first coyote and the last mulie shot especially...

Jim

[Cee Cee]

they do have a "look" about them, maybe the colour tone, I like them particularly the mulie head shot.
cheers

[tessfully]

Wow CJ, as usual an extraordinary set. Love the tones the soft light provided. Wonderful amazing captures. Thank you for sharing. Mannnn... that is sure an amazing bit of kit you have there!

[slowpez]

There is definitely something about the colors rendered with that set-up that is very, very appealing. I love the mountain image and the mulies especially. Super job.

[crewl1]

These are wonderful shots. I like the setup, very cool.
How did the coyote catch lunch without an ACME safe to drop on it ?

[Colorado CJ]

great shots. surprised at the compact size for the lens for a 500mm.

Thanks. It is definitely compact for a 500mm. That is the one good thing about mirror lenses. It is actually much more compact than that. The 3M-5C-MC had an integral lens hood that pulls out, so with the hood collapsed it is about 3 inches shorter.

[Colorado CJ]

I really like this set, especially the coyote frames. Who cares about whatever details might or might not be rendered ideally, these really work very well for me. Yes, they have noise and such, and you won't be selling them at a high end gallery, but overall they really work well, and what's in focus is great. Glad to see them! My coyote day was without any camera, and it was up close and personal, too--enough to be a bit disturbing, although I think there's not so much to be afraid of with them coyotes! I do wish I'd had a set up of any kind at all..., and it's great to see yours, it inspires me.

Thank you Jacquot, coyotes are a joy to shoot. They are much harder to get close to though. It is a lot of fun to watch them on the hunt. I've had the experience of following a coyote pack on the trail of some elk up in the mountains. I'll never forget that experience.

What happened to you?

[Colorado CJ]

Well, I think they turned out great... Love the first coyote and the last mulie shot especially...

Jim

Thanks Jim, glad you liked them!

[Colorado CJ]

they do have a "look" about them, maybe the colour tone, I like them particularly the mulie head shot.
cheers

Thank you, that is my favorite of the set as well. This lens definitely renders colors differently. They are more like a watercolor image or something, a very "old" look to the image that I think I'll really like.

I can't wait to see how it does in better light.

[Colorado CJ]

Wow CJ, as usual an extraordinary set. Love the tones the soft light provided. Wonderful amazing captures. Thank you for sharing. Mannnn... that is sure an amazing bit of kit you have there!

Thanks Tessfully , really glad you like them. I would have liked a little more light, but you have to work with what you get with these outdoor shots.

I do like this setup as it is very light weight for a 750mm equivalent shooting kit. The stock REALLY helps stabilize the shots as well, which is very important since the Nex 5n has no stabilization at all.

[Colorado CJ]

There is definitely something about the colors rendered with that set-up that is very, very appealing. I love the mountain image and the mulies especially. Super job.

Thanks Susan. Like I said, there is something to the way this lens renders that I really like. It is very different and not technically "perfect" by any standard, but I do like it.

[Colorado CJ]

These are wonderful shots. I like the setup, very cool.
How did the coyote catch lunch without an ACME safe to drop on it ?

Thanks. I did see an ACME crate in the tall grass, but the coyote decided to use the tried and true stalking method instead